Posted on 02/13/2018 4:52:12 AM PST by iowamark
On Monday, Senator Ted Cruz was the only senator to vote against Senator Mitch McConnells plan for the Senate this week: a so-called free-for-all open debate about immigration on the Senate floor.
Fears of a Democrat-leaning deal on DACA are rampant among Republican activists, and with conservative websites calling this the amnesty debate, Senator Cruzs solitary objection gives voice to the thousands of voters who believed what they were told on the campaign trails of 2016.
His office released a statement Monday night (below.)
The unusual debate period this week will of course focus on DACA and family immigration, among other issues, and begins in earnest Tuesday.
From the New York Times::
The highly unusual debate, expected to unfold throughout the week, will test whether a series of legislative concepts and proposals championed by President Trump and a variety of Republicans and Democrats can garner 60 votes, the threshold for a measure to pass the Senate. No one has any idea how it will turn out.
Whoever gets to 60 wins, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, told reporters last week. And it will be an opportunity for 1,000 flowers to bloom.
The process kicked off Monday evening with a procedural vote on an unrelated House-passed measure that will serve as a shell for building an immigration bill. By a vote of 97 to 1, with only Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, dissenting, senators took the first step toward consideration of the underlying measure, as expected.
As McConnell said, 60 is the game now. The objective is to reach that number before recess on Friday. This is Sen. (Dick) Durbin and Democrats opportunity and so far they kind of seem to be a little confused about what theyre planning on doing but they better get it done quick because its this week or not at all, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said this week. People had better get to work because the clock is ticking.
Senator Cruz voted against, and he explained why in a statement from Catherine Frazier, his Senior Communications Advisor.
Sen. Cruz believes it would be a serious mistake for Congress to pass legislation that grants a path to citizenship for those here illegally. Such a policy is inconsistent with the promises that he and Republicans have made to the voters, and is in fact further to the left of President Obamas position.
The solutions that we should pursue should focus on securing the border and building the wall, as well as passing Kates Law and the El Chapo Act, both introduced by Sen. Cruz.
Respectively, these bills will provide for mandatory minimum prison sentences for aggravated felons who repeatedly enter the country illegally and require that any assets seized from convicted drug lords go towards building the wall and other border security assets.
On Tuesday, the Senate will nevertheless take this up and the actual debate is expected to begin. Republicans have not outlined a plan, but several senators promised media that Tuesday all would become clear.
There will be a lot of news from this process throughout the week. Read RedState to keep up to date. And make sure to watch Sen. Cruzs Twitter timeline. If the many amnesty ideas floating around start making headway, you can bet hell tweet about it.
To those of you who still hate Ted. He’s the only one who’s standing up for the one thing Trump promised and is now wobbling on. Both parties will get their nanny’s, cheap labor, and voters to stay in this country.
Good for Ted. I hope he can get some others to come on board.
I don’t think anyone here “hated” Ted. He wasn’t a good candidate for President. No way in Hell would he have beaten Hillary’s machine. If he were our candidate, PIAPS would be in the Oval Office now.
I’d be okay with the debate if it were only Kabuki theater leading nowhere. I want all illegals deported. No exceptions. However, the debate will be disingenuous and will shape public perceptions. Even though the House will rightfully ignore anything that comes out of the Senate, publicizing and quoting this debate will hurt America.
I have serious problems with a small number of things Ted Cruz has said or done, but he’s right on many issues, including this one. I hope our side will be careful as they step into this quagmire. I also hope President Trump will quickly ramp up the deportations of all illegals other than these sympathetic and coddled DACA criminals.
Makes one wonder WHY they have elections. I think the thing that put Donald Trump over the top was that he was going to stop this wave of illegal entry to a country supposedly based upon the rule of law. I hope someone stands for the law.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/226950.html
“What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Let one thousand flowers bloom’?
Let a thousand flowers bloom is a common misquotation of Chairman Mao Zedong’s “Let a hundred flowers blossom”. This slogan was used during the period of approximately six weeks in the summer of 1957 when the Chinese intelligentsia were invited to criticize the political system then obtaining in Communist China.
The full quotation, taken from a speech of Mao’s in Peking in February 1957, is:
“Letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend is the policy for promoting progress in the arts and the sciences and a flourishing socialist culture in our land.”
It is sometimes suggested that the initiative was a deliberate attempt to flush out dissidents by encouraging them to show themselves as critical of the regime. Whether or not it was a deliberate trap isn’t clear but it is the case that many of those who put forward views that were unwelcome to Mao were executed.”
The wall is 4th for me among the priorities. E-Verify, Chain Migration and Visa lottery are all higher priorities.
Whoever gets to 60 wins,
Well we know what that means. So the all the Rats plus the Rinos gets you amnesty and millions of new Rat votes. I fn hate Mitch.
“standing up for the one thing Trump promised and is now wobbling on.”
You people and that stupid narrative you keep pushing.
Cruz may not have figured out he ain’t gonna be President. Standing on principle is nice gesture but reality is what it is and he’s posturing much as Linda Graham has been of late.
Amorphophallus titanum, also known as the titan arum, is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The titan arum's inflorescence is not as large as that of the talipot palm, Corypha umbraculifera, but the inflorescence of the talipot palm is branched rather than unbranched.
Due to its odor, which is like the smell of a rotting corpse or carcass, the titan arum is characterized as a carrion flower, and is also known as the corpse flower, or corpse plant (Indonesian: bunga bangkai bunga means flower, while bangkai can be translated as corpse, cadaver, or carrion).
I knew Trump would waiver on some things. I am sad that it had to be on illegal alien amnesty.
But he is not a tyrant (”Worst Hitler Ever!”) and can’t impose his will on Congress. He has to bargain for what he can get.
Any so called DACA deal is going to pi$$ off somebody. Get used to it. It is how senate sausage is made.
Trump says “Amnesty Yes!” Get on board, little children, get on board.
Anything less is a veto. All he has to do is wave that pen or even a blunt hint about a veto.
If not....he's done in 2020. He knows that, too.
I’ll never trust Cruz.
Even though he votes mostly correctly, he’s slippery as anything.
Not bad to have a spotlight on the GOP’s latest sellout, but probably not a difference-maker either.
Shame people can’t see Cruz is using this to create a wedge.
I am sure he still thinks he can win.
Delusional he is.
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